If a fire breaks out in your home, the work doesn’t end when it is out.
You still have to deal with smoke and soot. It might sound like an easy clean-up job, but it requires help from mitigation professionals. Both soot and smoke may cause irreversible damage to your property’s contents. It only takes a short time for the damage to become permanent. Thus, it must be dealt with immediately.
Calling fire damage mitigation experts to the scene should be one of your priorities. With the necessary fire soot cleaning products equipped, they can guarantee a clean, safe, and stable property to return to.
Now, you may be wondering why you need experts to clean it for you. Find out more about what smoke is and how it can affect your home.
Soot and Smoke: What Makes Them Dangerous?
Smoke and soot are what’s left when things don’t burn completely. They may contain various substances that may harm your health. The various materials that make up the contents of your home might turn into health hazards when burnt. This will make fire mitigation more dangerous and challenging to do.
Soot and smoke have an unpleasant smell, are not always visible, and can put your health in harm’s way. These health hazards cause a wide array of health issues such as:
- Shortness of breath
- Bronchitis
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Premature death
Ways Fire Soot and Smoke Can Affect Your Home
1. Wet Smoke
Wet smoke residue is the result of slow-burning fires and low heat that leaves a sticky residue. It is difficult to clean by just wiping because it easily smears and spreads everywhere.
If this is the case, only professionals can help. They have the right smoke and soot removal products. Dealing with it on your own may only spread the damage even further.
2. Unpleasant Smell
The smell of smoke is hard to ignore; smoke particles attach themselves to clothes, upholsteries, carpets, and other contents of your home. Smoke damage doesn’t show up until after a couple of hours or days; the faster you act on it, the better chances you have of cleaning it.
If the smoke particles have already penetrated an item’s material, you’ll have to call mitigation experts to deodorize the item for you. They have special equipment that eliminates smoke particles.
3. Soot Inhalation
Soot is the result when a fire doesn’t burn its fuel source completely. It is a powdery substance that gets stuck to surfaces. Clean up the soot particles in all areas of your home before you return.
Consider having your HVAC system cleaned; soot can find its way into it and spread when turned on, and this can’t be good for your lungs. Have experts clean up your property after a fire.
4. Discoloration
Both smoke and soot are invisible enemies. It might take hours or days before you notice the damage they have caused and the yellow stains it has left on your walls, floors, and other things.
If the soot particles are not cleaned properly, metal surfaces, countertops made of marble or granite, and wood are prone to permanent discoloration. Call the professionals immediately to avoid this from happening.
5. Skin Irritation
Cleaning soot is a job for experts. It will damage your home and your health. One of the many things you may experience is skin irritation, which can sometimes be so severe that it requires medical attention.
Know that throwing your clothes straight into the washing machine will not work. It will only make the problem worse. The soot particles will only remain attached to the fibers of your clothes. Mitigation experts know how to wash your clothes and other fabrics.
6. Corrosion
Soot is acidic and can corrode metal surfaces like pipes, fixtures, doorknobs, and other appliances with metal parts. A little hack you can do is to wipe them with cooking oil while waiting for experts to arrive.
Corrosion is another reason why you must have your HVAC system inspected and cleaned after a fire. It has many metal components that might corrode and cause issues in its functionality. It might even become a fire hazard.
Call Deep Water Emergency Services & Mitigation
As experts in mitigation, we’ve seen it all.
Deep Water Emergency Services & Mitigation has over 20 years of service. We have the skills, knowledge, and equipment to restore your home to its pre-damaged state.
We are your partners in restoring your home and its contents to their former glory. Aside from addressing fire soot damage, we also provide professional water damage mitigation in Denver, CO. Call us today and let our team do the work.
